Seat Belt Safety for Children with Autism

by Christine Roach

I recently was brave and took my kids with me on a vacation to see my family in the Midwest. It was mostly fun, although super stressful as well. Honestly, the thing that stressed me out the most was when I was driving a mini van, and my oldest son with autism, Garrett, walked right up to me to try and get some treats. I was mortified because I realized that he now knew how to undo his seat belt. I spent the next couple of hours scouring the stores for any kind of childproofing device to put over the seat belt buckle, so that I could keep Garrett safe while we were driving. It was extremely frustrating because I couldn’t find anything like that at any of the stores that I visited.

Happily, on the first day of school, I told Garrett’s bus driver to keep an eye on him because he can undo his seat belt and might get up during the ride. This was when I was given a glimmer of hope. She told me that she would use a seat belt buckle guard and bring me one the next day that I could use in our car.

I just wanted to share the news for those other frustrated mothers out there. There are products out there to childproof the seatbelt buckles. Seat belt buckle guards can be purchased online at amazon.com.